


From Down Under to the Mountaintops

by CAPtainAmerica77



Category: South Park
Genre: Drama, F/M, Mild Language, Romance, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2019-08-23 17:19:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 19,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16623158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CAPtainAmerica77/pseuds/CAPtainAmerica77
Summary: Cassandra has just moved to South Park from Down under. She "befriends" the goth kids on her first day and hopes to be the one to crack their tough exteriors.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters 1-13 were written from 2015- 2017. The rest was written in 2018. Please keep that in mind when reading.

Cassandra Porcelain Palamino 's alarm clock went off at 5:45 in the morning, though she was awake long before that. She was terrified today was her first day at her new high school, South Park High School. She hadn't heard much about it, though she really didn't ask.

Cassandra walked out of her room, took a left and trudged down the steps that lead into the foyer. The foyer was clothed in Red and Golds, her family's house colours dating all the way back to the days of kings and queens.

From the foyer she walked into her kitchen which was very modern and dark. There was an island in the middle with a black counter top. All the Cabinets were red with gold handles and the dishes were the same, red with some gold accents. Cassandra opened the double door fridge and pulled out the milk, then her coca puffs cereal from the cabinet adjacent to the fridge. She poured herself a bowl and went to sit in the living room to watch some TV.

The Palomino’s living room was very spacious and had, as you guessed, red couches and gold pillows. The 56” TV was hung on the wall in front of the main couch. Cassandra sat down in her favourite spot, pulled up a blanket and turned on the TV.

Cassandra's hands shook slightly as she ate.  _What if everyone hates me? What if they don't like my accent?_ Questions speed through her brain as if it were a highway and they all had somewhere to be, a place where the answers would be. When she was finished her breakfast she put her dishes in the dishwasher and walked up to her bedroom.

She opened the door to her walk-in closet and was greeted by many different hues and styles along the walls.

“What should I wear for my first day?” Cassandra thought aloud. She pawed through her many clothes and landed on a strapless dress and cinched at the waist leading into alternating blue and white ruffled fabric. She put on a jean jacket hoping it'd keep her warm enough in this mountain town and a pair of white sandal heels.

Cassandra sat down and began to curl her maroon ombre hair, and when she was done that did a light blue eye shadow look with white eyeliner. Her lips were painted a light pink and she wore a diamond tiara necklace and diamond earrings.

Cassandra trotted down stairs again to let her dog, Rostilav, out once before school and when he was done grabbed her bag, got in her car and drove to her new school. 


	2. Michael's Morning

'When will you be here?' Michael Evans texted his friend Pete Hanson. Their friend Henrietta Biggle had picked up the rest of their little gang and Michael was the only one left waiting.

'Should be there soon.'

'Is Mike with you?'

'No. Henrietta doesn't want him in her car.'

Michael shrugged and put in his ear buds before leaning back on the couch to wait for his friends. He closed his eyes and sighed, he hated going to school. He only went because his parents made him, not that he really listened to them he just didn't want officer Barbrady to show up asking questions, so he only went enough to stay out of trouble. Today was one of those days that he had to go to stay out of trouble, the first day.

Michael had almost fallen back asleep when he heard Henrietta's old station wagon pull up. The goth kids used to use her mom's car in elementary for simple things like breaking into a camp to end the emos.

Michael got off the couch, pulled out his ear buds and went outside to go to school.

“Hey Michael.” said Pete sitting behind the drivers seat where Henrietta sat.

“ Hey.” Michael responded.

Pete still had the roots of his black hair dyed blood red so it looked like a blood demon took a shit on his head. He had pockmarks on his cheeks from where his hair touched his face like it was doing now. He wore a gray tee shirt, he usually wore a gray button down, with black jeans and a pair of purple boots. Michael thought the boots always looked a bit odd but Pete like them so he never said anything.

“I can't believe its legal to make us spend 6 hours in a hell hole.” Henrietta said.

Henrietta was still chubby, but no one seemed to mind. Her black hair was pin straight and black unlike the old layered cut she had that went past her shoulders. She wore a black dress that had fishnets covering her arms and shoulders, the dress went down to her ankles. She had a corset on too and black flats. Her make up was heavy and dark, not like that conformist bullshit.

“Yeah, when I first heard that I was like no way.” Pete said. Imitating how they used to all say no way and drag it out. Michael smiled, he did that a lot less now, he never really smiled much but he did smile. Now it's like he never smiles at all.

Henrietta pulled into an unofficial parking spot at the back of the school and they all got out. Firkle first, then Pete, then Michael and lastly Henrietta.

“Henrietta can you drive me home today too?” asked Firkle.

“Yeah whatever.” she answered.

Firkle was slightly shorter than Henrietta and looked extremely similar to how he did in kindergarten, minus the height. His hair was still black and swooped to one side, his eyeliner still dark and his lips were still black. He was still very skinny and wore all black like the rest of the goth kids making him look even thinner. Today he had on a black turtle neck with black jeans and black converse, they were comfy is the only reason.

The goth kids all pulled out a cigarette and had quick smoke before the bell rang for class. They snuffed out their cigs, sighed and walked into the hell hole they called school.


	3. First Friend?

Michael's first class according to his schedule was AP Literature, he had no idea why he was in that class since he's never here to earn good grades but he didn't look into it too much.

He walked into the class room and saw some familiar faces. Stan, Kyle and Cartman all sat in the back corner next to each other. Tweak and Craig sat in the middle to the right, if they were next to each other neither of them would get much done. Lastly Wendy and Bebe sat in the front, they were chatting while Wendy braided Bebe's hair.

Michael took a seat in the back corner near Stan, not too close but still close enough that he could talk to him if the time ever arose that he needed to. The teacher was out in the hall so she didn't pay much attention to what was going on the classroom, Tweak was in Craig's lap and it was amazing the two of them could go so long without air.

“Get a room you two!” Cartman called. Everyone laughed except Michael of course.

“Speaking of rooms, did you guys hear there's going to be a new student today?” Kyle asked his friends.

Kyle's hair was still a mess of ginger curls but they were tamer and he very rarely kept them under his green hat. He had taken to wearing polos, today he wore an orange one, and blue jeans. He was much taller than he used to be and the only person that seemed to be taller than him was Michael, though Michael was taller than everyone.

“No, is it a dude or a chick? And of course there is going to be a new student, it's the first day there are always some.” Stan said, he was right new students always showed up on the first day at most schools but not in South Park. It was a quiet town few people ever learned the existence of.

Stan had black hair that still swooped across his forehead, though it was longer in the back now. He wore a Red and Blue Letterman jacket that probably came from JC Penny's. His jeans were dark and clung to his toned legs that he earned from playing football for the past 3 years. He had some stubble on his chin and what looked like to be some light freckles on the back of his neck, though only Wendy could tell you for sure.

“I think Wendy said she was a girl, foreign or something. I heard she's really pretty though.” Kyle said.

“Wait how do you know all of this?” Asked Cartman, he probably thought Kyle was making it up.

Cartman hadn't changed at all, he still claimed he was big boned, even his mother and everyone else knew he wasn't. He wore red and yellow hoodies with blue jeans and sometime his blue and yellow hat. But he was still an asshole.

“Wendy said she saw her walking out of the school with her mother. She said the girl looked a bit old to be in middle school but she was really pretty.” Kyle replied with a sneer.

“Is that her?” Stan asked referring to the girl, no young woman that just walked into the room. Michael turned and looked and there she was, the new girl.

She had maroon hair that faded to blonde- _it think it's called ombre_ \- her face was an oval with a slim nose that came to a small point. She was tall for a girl and that was not just because she was wearing heels. She walked with a confidence that could scare a thunderstorm but she did slouch slightly, probably nerves from the new setting. Her dress was white, cinched at the waist and alternated blue and white ruffles to mid thigh. She wore a jean jacket over it and had a galaxy back pack slung over her shoulder.

Her green eyes glanced around the room unaware of where to sit before they landed on the back corner near Michael and Stan.

“Excuse me mate, this seat taken?” she asked her voice thick with an Australian accent.

“No. You new here?” Stan asked as she sat down.

“Yeah just moved here this summer from down under. I'm Cassandra by the way, but you can call me Cass.” she said with a smile. Her teeth were white as pearls and her lips had a light red tint to them.

“I'm Stan and this is Kyle and Cartman. Warning Cartman is an asshole so I wouldn't get too friendly with him.” Stan introduced himself and company.

“I'm not an asshole!Not to pretty girls like you.” Cartman yelled at Stan but softened his voice when speaking to Cass.

“Thank you.” Cass said with an awkward smile, she did not want to talk to Cartman.

“Leave her alone man” Kyle said which started an argument between them that didn't stop until the teacher walked into the room.

“Good Morning class I'll be your teacher Mrs. Sawve. Welcome to AP Literature also known as AP Lit. I believe we have a student new to the school is that right.” Mrs. Sawve said to the class.

“Yes ma’am.”said Cass softly, but loud enough that the teacher could hear her.

“Why don't you stand up and tell us a little about yourself.” Cass did as she was told. She stood up and began to speak.

“Hey I'm Cassandra Palomino, but you mates can call me Cass. I'm from Australia hence the accent. I love to swim and I'm really looking forward to being your class” With that Cass sat down in her seat.

When Cass sat down her face was slightly red, she didn't like to talk about herself in big groups, she never knew what to say. Michael noticed but didn't say anything, that was her problem.

Class went by without any interruptions minus the few from Cartman and soon first period was over and it was time for second. Cass pulled out her schedule and tried to figure out where to go.

“Excuse me mate,” she said to Michael. “Could you tell me how to get to my next class?” she asked showing him her schedule.

“Just follow me, I have that class too.” he said very non-nonchalant.

“Thanks mate.” and follow him she did.


	4. Calculus

“So how long have you lived in South Park?”

“All my life.”

“Do you like it here?”

“Way too many conformists.”

“ You're not a big talker are you?” Cassandra asked Michael. He shook his head no. “That's okay we can just walk quietly if you prefer.” she said. She sounded a bit guilty almost.

“No it's fine.” Michael said.  _Wait did I just say I don't mind talking to her? That is way too conformist, stop it Michael_  he thought to himself.

“Oh okay. So got any hobbies?” Cassandra asked with as much enthusiasm as her first question.

“hanging out in the cemetery reading poetry about pain and death, something a conformist like you wouldn't understand.” he said.

“Oh that's cool. I like to swim, but you probably already knew that. I also like to dance and play piano. What's a conformist?” she asked.  _Man she likes to talk, hope she isn't always like this_.

“A conformist is what almost everyone in the world is except us few goth kids. Conformists run the world and ruin it.” he explained.

“Sorry for being one then mate, I wouldn't be one but it's a lot easier for me to smile then to be goth. Sorry that wasn't meant to be offensive if it was. Sorry...” Cass said mentally slapping herself for that last part. Michael just nodded. The two of them walked into the class, Honors Calculus.

“So do you want to sit together if I haven't bothered you too much yet?” Cass asked walking towards the back. Michael shrugged and followed her to the back.

Cassandra sat down first and Michael sat down next to her. Just then Pete walked in. Him and Michael nodded to each other before Pete came and sat down next to Michael.

“Who was that conformist you were walking with?” Pete asked.

“Cassandra she's new to South Park. She isn't too bad for a conformist but she does talk a lot.” Michael replied. Pete nodded and leaned back in his seat, bored he began to drum his fingers on the desk.

“SO Michael who's your friend?” Cass asked, she really did like to talk a lot.

“This is Pete, he's not one of you conformists.” Michael said motioning to Pete.

“Hey Pete I'm Cassandra, you can call me Cass.” Cass smiled at Pete who just made a noise signaling he heard her. She smiled with a sigh and continued to try and get an actual conversation out of Michael.

“what's your favourite colour?”

“Black.”

“Favourite book?”

“Don't have one.”

“Why not?”

“I don't read much.”

“Why not?”

“Because-” but Michael was cut off by the teacher walking in the room.

“Good morning I hope you are all enjoying your first day of class. I'm Ms. Kenichers and I'll be teaching you Calc for the first semester at least.” said Ms. Kenichers. She had short blonde hair to her shoulders and had a very small frame, she looked like a student almost. She wore black slacks and a white blouse with a black necklace.

“Now even though its the first day we are going to do some review and see what your brains retained over the summer and what they lost.” she said picking up a pile of papers and handing them out to each student.

“The first day really? And in calculus of all classes.” Cass sighed as she wrote her name on her paper.

“It's not like its hard.” Michael said, which was odd since he never really talked to anyone besides the goth kids.

“Easy for you to say you're probably good at maths, I suck at it.” she smiled with a small chuckle.

“ here let me help you.” Michael said leaning towards Cass. He explained how to do every problem step-by-step and watched her as she went through some on her own. It was sort of cute when she was deep in thought she scrunched up her nose.

“Michael? Hey earth to Michael? Can you tell me if I'm doing this right?” Cass asked waving her hand in front of his face.

“Yeah sure sorry.” he said and began to check over her paper. “They look OK, I don't really think she's grading based on accuracy so you'll be fine.” he handed her the paper and leaned back. He could not wait to take a smoke break.

“So what are you doing for lunch?” Cass asked.

“Probably going to smoke with the rest of the goths.”

“Can I join?”

“You smoke?”

“No but I can just sit and eat. You're the only person I feel comfortable around right now and I'd love to meet your mates. So can I come along?”

“Its a free country, do what you want.” Michael responded as the bell rang. Him and Pete got up and walked out to the back of the school with Cass following behind. She asked Pete a lot of the same questions she asked Michael but got less of a response from him.

They reached the back of the school just as the bell rang again. Michael and Pete pulled out a cig each, light it took a smoke.

“Who the hell is this conformist and what is she doing here?”


	5. Lunch Break

“Hi I'm Cassandra Palamino, but you can call me Cass. I'm new to South Park, just moved here over the summer from down under.” Cass introduced herself. “And you are?”

“Henrietta”

“Firkle.”

“Nice to meet you both. Michael said I could eat with ya'll during your smoke break. He's the only person I know and feel comfortable around.” Cass explained as she took a sandwich out of her back pack.

“What's that?” Firkle asked about the odd sandwich.

“This it's a chips sanga.”

“A what?” Henrietta asked.

“A sanga- I mean Sandwich it's a sandwich with potato chips and ketchup in the middle. Sorry I'm still getting used to American slang.” Cass apologized. She took a bite out of the sandwich with a large CRUNCH!

“ Why do you call them sangas?” Firkle asked sitting down next to Cass and taking a puff of his cigarette.

“I don't know that's just what we call them in Australia.”

“What's Australia like?”

“Pretty nice I guess. I mean everything there can kill you, even my pet alligator.”

“You have a pet alligator?” Henrietta asked sounding bored with Cass already.

“Yeah, two actually. Snarl and Fang. Snarl is 12 ½ feet long and Fang is 4 feet long. They stayed back in Australia though, too cold for them here. My brother is taking care of them.” Cass explained unlocking her phone and pulling up a picture of them.

The picture was Cass laying on Snarls back in her pool with fang swimming around them. She looked very peaceful, as if she was napping.

“Are you sleeping on your alligator’s back?” Pete asked flipping his hair out of his face.

“Yeah I sort of fell asleep and my brother, Steven, thought it was funny and took a picture of it. Man do I miss him and the boys.” she said with a slight smile. “Do you guys have any pets?”

“No.” They all answered, though it looked like Michael hesitated.

“do you guys want pets?”

“No that's a conformist thing, we don't do that.” said Henrietta taking a puff of her pipe.

“Oh yeah right, sorry still getting used to that whole conformist thing. Sorry for being one by the way, I can tell you mates don't like them.” Cass apologized again, she did that a lot. When she was finished eating she began to play with the blonde ends of her hair, she did that when she felt nervous or stressed. Michael caught onto that.

“Are we going to get coffee today at the Village inn?” he asked the goth kids.

“Sure, black coffee just like our souls.” Firkle said. The other goths nodded in agreement.

“Cassandra do you want to come too?” Michael asked looking down at her.

“you want me to come? A conformist?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yeah you're pretty cool for a conformist.” said Henrietta with a slight smile, she was just happy to have a girl to talk to. Though she'd never tell the boys that.

“I'd love too.” Cass answered.

Cass finished her lunch within the hour and the goth kids finished their smokes. Cass told them about her life in Australia and her childhood, though the only on that seemed really interested was Firkle. But that was probably just because he was the youngest and had never been outside the country.

When lunch hour ended they all went their separate ways and decided to meet in the same spot after school for their coffee run.


	6. Coffee isn't Conformist

The day went by pretty fast after lunch, maybe Cass was just so focused on how excited she was to get coffee with the goth kids. They weren't necessarily friends, yet, but they were the closest thing she had to friends in this mountain town. When the last bell rang Cass went out to the back of the school and saw Firkle waiting there.

“Hey Firkle, how was your day?” she asked leaning against the wall next to him.

“Hellish and boring.” he said.

“Oh I'm sorry sweetie, mine was okay. I have to say the best part was meeting you guys, you're an interesting group.” Cass said with a smile. She figured Firkle wouldn't ask her how her day was so she'd just tell him on her own. “So do you guys like getting coffee or is it just an occasional thing?”

“We get coffee a lot, we either go to Benny's or the Village inn. I prefer Benny's more, they have better food if I'm ever hungry.” Firkle answered.

“That's cool. We don't have Benny's in Australia, though we have this really good breakfast place near where I used to live called JJ's dinner. I love that place, my brother usually gets everything on the menu.” she said with a laugh.

“What's so funny?” asked Pete as he appeared from out of no where with Henrietta and Michael.

“I was just telling Firkle about a dinner in Australia and how my brother usually gets everything on the menu.” Cass smiled at them. “so are we all ready to go?”

“Yeah come on you can ride with us.” Henrietta said taking her keys out of her bag.

“Thanks but I drove my car to school today, can ya'll tell me how to get there though?” Cass asked as she dangled her keys in front of her.

“I can ride with you and direct you.” Michael volunteered, he was used to her constant talking so he knew it'd be easier for him to ride with her.

“OK thanks, come on my car is this way.” Cass said pulling Michael in her direction.

“you know I can follow you without holding your hand right?” he said raising an eyebrow but showing no other emotion on his face.

“Oh right sorry. I'm a very touchy person, but if that makes you uncomfortable I'll try my best to stop.” Cass apologized beginning to pull her hand away.

“No you're fine.” he said still holding her hand. Cass smiled and walked a bit closer to him as they walked to her car.

“ **That** is your car?” Michael asked as they came upon Cass's car.

“Yeah, I know she's not much but I love her.” Cass said unlocking both doors of her Chevy Impala '67. Her dad had gotten it for her when they moved to the states as her Australian car wouldn't work too well, she'd drive on the wrong side of the road.

“No she's great, I've never seen one in person” he said. Few knew it but Michael really loved cars, it was a little hobby of his besides dancing. Not that he'd every admit to either.

“Thanks, she's my all American girl. Am I using that expression right?” Cass asked.

“Close enough.” Michael answered.

Cass and Michael got in the car and once they were buckled up they drove off towards the Benny's.

“So how long have you been friends with them?” Cass asked trying to start a conversation.

“Since elementary school, turn right here then take the second left.” Michael answered. “Do you have any friends back home?”

“I have a few, but my closest friends have to be my older brothers.” Cass said. She made the turn and then the next one. They could see the Benny's in the distance, but not the others. Th _ey probably tried to take a back way and got a little lost_  thought Michael.

“I have five older brothers, I was the first girl and the last. It's nice though I mean I never had to baby sit younger siblings or go on play dates. I think you'd like my older brothers, or at least tolerate them like you tolerate me.” Cass said.  _She really is talkative_  thought Michael. “Do you see the others?” Cass asked as she pulled into the parking lot and cut off her engine.

“No We can go wait inside if you want. They probably tried one of Pete's shortcuts and got lost.”Michael said getting out of the car.

The two walked into the dinner and Michael sat down at the goth kids usual booth. A short, stout waitress came over, the same waitress the kids usually had.

“Aren't there usually more of you?” she asked. Though she never admit it she did enjoy seeing the goth kids, they kept her work interesting.

“Yeah they're running late. They'll be here soon.” Michael answered very nonchalant.

“OK so just coffee like usual- you're new.” the waitress said to Cass stopping mid sentance.

“Oh yeah. Hi I'm Cassandra I just moved here from Australia.” Cass smiled and waved.

“Bit cherry for the goth kids. What can I get you?” she asked Cass.

“Just a caramel mocha please.” Cass said and with that the waitress went to get their coffee.

Michael sat silently while he waited for the rest of the goth kids to arrive, and Cass of course didn't.

“Did you know I have pet crocodiles? The huge one is named Snarl, and the little one is Fang. Fang acts like a cat sometimes and a dog the other times. Do you have any pets?”

“You've already told me that. Hey looks like they are finally here.” Michael said avoiding the question. The rest of the goth kids walked into the dinner and sat down, forcing Michael and Cass next to each other. Not that Cass really minded. She liked Michael he was polite and even though she was probably very annoying he still gave her the time of day.

They drank their coffee in a majority of silence save for the few times Cass spoke or when the goth kids complained of their miserable lives and the conformists.

“Well that was fun. Do you guys come here often?” Cass asked.

“sometimes.” Henrietta said.

“Well I'd love to come with y'all again if that's okay.” Cass said. No one said anything. “Well I should be getting home soon. Do any of y'all want a ride?”

“You'll get lost without me.” Michael said as he stood up. He nodded a goodbye to his friends and Cass waved before they left Benny's.

The pair walked out of Benny's and got back into Cass's care. They drove back onto main street, with Michael's directions.

“So how do I get to your house?” she asked when they reached a red light.

“You can just drop me off at the school. I can walk home.” Michael said.

“No. I'm driving you home. Now what do I do?” she asked.

“Okay make a left and keep driving until you read Park Street.” he said rolling his eyes. She was stubborn, there was no point in trying to argue with her.

“Wait there is a Park Street in South Park? Kind of funny huh?” she laughed quietly to herself.

“I guess.” he said looking out the window.

“Look I know I'm annoying a little too friendly and you and your goth friends really hate it. If you don't want me to hang out with you guys then that's fine. I don't want to intrude on anything.” she said with a slight smile.

“No it's fine.” Michael said. “Turn left up here. Park Street isn't marked too well.” he added.

“Really? Thanks Michael. You're a pretty nice guy. But not too nice, don't want to be a conformist.” she winked at him out of the corner of her eye.

They soon reached Michael's house and he got out of the car and went inside.

“See you tomorrow!” Cass yelled out of the window. She waited until he was inside to drive back to her house.


	7. Table for Five

“So sweetie how was your first day at school?” Mr. Christopher Palomino asked his daughter at dinner that night. Mr. Palomino was a very tall man at 6'5” and had black hair that was greying at the temples. Cass used to joke that he looked like Dr. Strange from Marvel comics.

“It was pretty good. Everyone here seems pretty nice. I actually went out for coffee with a group of them after school.” Cass answered taking a bite of her steak.

“Oh really? Wow making actual friends, that's a new one.” Cass's younger brother Xavier with chuckle.

“Oi shut it.” Cass snapped back playfully. “How was your first day?”

“It was pretty good. There's this weird goth kid in my class. I think his name was Finkle.” Xavier replied. Xavier was in 9th grade and instead of driving to school with Cass he rode the bus.

“Oh Firkle is in your class?”

“You know that weirdo?” Xavier said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. He actually happens to be one of the friends I got coffee with today.” Cass said getting a bit defensive.

“Kids there's no need to fight.” Allison Markson said. Allison had long blonde hair that went to the middle of her back that was covered in freckles. Like the rest of the family she was very tall and very beautiful.

“Sorry mum.” Both of the kids apologized and went back to eating their dinner.

“Well I have to say I really enjoy this town. Its a bit colder than what I like but overall it's pretty ace.” Allison said.

“I guess. Why did we have to move here anyways?” Xavier whined. He wasn't a big fan of the move.

“Because I am trying to open a new branch here in America. There was a cheap building here and it seemed like a good place for a branch. Now stop whining X.” Mr. Palomino answered.

“Knock, knock! Guess who's home?” called a voice from the foyer. A tall man with light blonde hair and light stubble walked into the room. Mr. Palomino stood up and gave his husband,William, a kiss on the cheek before the kids' father sat down.

“So Al what's for dinner?” Will asked.

“Steak, potatoes and some greens so little X can grow up tall.”Allison said ruffling her bio sons hair. Xavier pushed her hand away gently and smoothed out his hair. Everyone laughed.

William and Christopher were to be married legally in the states soon but had a civil union in Australia. Allison was their surrogate for their kids. Both fathers wanted the kids to have a mother in their lives and Allison became part of the family. Xavier was William's biological son and Cass was Christopher's biological daughter. Some thought the family was unconventional but the Palominos never seemed to mind.

“So kids how was your first day?” William asked.

“Good. Cass made friends with some weird goth kids.”

“They're not weird Xavier. They're actually really nice. And yes I did make friends with them, we actually got coffee after school today.” Cass defended her friends yet again.

“I hope to meet them sometime. Xavier did you make any friends?” William asked.

“I met this one kid Ike. He seems pretty cool, plays soccer.”

“Are you going to try out for any sports?” Christopher asked both of his kids.

“I'm going to try out for soccer. I may try to do basketball in the spring too.” Xavier answered. Xavier while he was tall for his age, was the shortest one in the family. Cass chuckled.

“You better eat your greens before springtime. I may try out for swimming. If they have a team that is.” Cass said.

When dinner was said and done. William and Christopher went upstairs to finish unpacking the rest of their room and offices. Allison went to go take a bath and do some reading. Xavier went to his room to play some video games. Cass cleaned the table and the went to the backyard to play with Rostilav.

“How is my puppy dog?” Cass asked her dog. She scratched under his chin and behind his ears before she got out a tennis ball. “Ready boy? Fetch!” she yelled.

Rostilav took off running after the ball and brought it back a minute later.

“Good boy. Who is my little Caucasian ovtcharka? You are! You are!” she cooed as Rostilav laid on his back asking for a tummy rub.

Cass obliged and gave her dog a tummy rub. Cass played with her dog and ran around the large yard with him for an hour before the two went back inside.

They both trudged up the steps and when they got to Cass's room Rostilav jumped up on her bed and went to sleep.

“He better make some room for me. Its my bed.” Cass thought aloud before she went into her conjoined bath room to shower.

She turned on the hot water and adjusted the temperature before she stripped and hopped in.

“Ahhhhh. Showering the best part of the day.” she said. Cass started shampooing her hair and singing.

“Tale as old as time. Tune as old as song. Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly.” she sang as she rinsed her hair.

She continued to sing throughout her shower and when she was finished she got out and dried off. She put on her favourite lotion, warm vanilla sugar, and changed into her pjs.

Cass turned on her TV and searched through the channel until she found one playing a horror movie. She leaned against her pooch and soon drifted off to dreamland.


	8. Artistic Outlet

In the morning Cass woke up to her alarm once again. She was wrapped in her Avengers blanket like a burrito so it took her longer to turn off her alarm. She walked down stairs and once again poured herself a bowl of coca puffs and sat in the living room to watch TV.

Today Cass wore a long sleeve galaxy sweater with light gray jeans. She did light purple eyeshadow that was reminiscent of the galaxy and light pink lips. She curled the ends of her hair that came together in one large curl. Her necklace had a silver clock in the middle of a heart and her earrings were simple silver stars. She slid on her converse and black and white Letterman jacket while she walked downstairs. She opened the front door when she heard,

“Forgetting something?” Alison asked from the top of the steps. She was holding her back pack, keys and phone.

“Oh right.” Cass said. She jogged back upstairs. Gave Alison a hug goodbye with a quick thanks and was out the door.

She put her key in the ignition and turned it. The car came alive and so did her radio. The song was “Be your everything” by BoyslikeGirls. She smiled a little before she drove off to school.

When Cass got to school she had 10 minutes before the doors would open to let the kids inside. She decided to go where she ate lunch yesterday and see if Michael and them were there. They were

“Hey guys. How are you?” she waved and sat down next to Michael on the steps.

“Fine.” Pete said taking a drag of his cigarette.

“That's good. I'm pretty good. Do any of you guys have classes with me today?” she asked.

“I don't know. Who even cares about school?”Henrietta said.

“Nobody.” Firkle answered.

“Can I see your schedules then? I can check if I have any classes with you guys toady.” everyone took out their schedules, minus Firkle who probably wouldn't have any classes with them, and handed them to Cass.

“Hey we all have first period together. And then I have second period with Henrietta. I don't have third period with any of you guys and fourth period I have with Michael.” Cass said looking over everyone's schedules including her own. “Do you guys want to walk to class together?”

They all just sort of shrugged, not like they could walk to class without her. The five of them sat in silence until the bell rang and they all went to class.

“So are you guys excited to see all your classes today?” Cass asked.

“Hell no.” said Michael.

“Oh. Well I sort of am. I mean I can't wait to meet more people. Though I still want to eat with y'all if that's okay.” she said.

“Sure, we can't stop you.” Pete said.

Soon the four of them reached their first period, psychics. They saw there was no seating chart, at least not yet and sat in the far back corner. Pete with Michael and on Michael's right at another table Cass and Henrietta. The rest of the class filed in which included Wendy, Red, Kenny, Stan and Mike Makowski. The bell rung and the teacher walked into the room.

“Good morning class. I trust you are all in the same room if not I will write you a pass to your correct classroom. My name is Mr. Psyck and welcome to physics.” Mr. Psyck said. Mr. Psyck was a short and stout man with a bushy grey beard and thinning grey hair. In a way he sort of looked like George R. R Martin.

“Now before we get started I'm going to give you all a quiz to see what you do and don't know. Don't worry it won't go in the grade book.” Mr. Psyck began to hand out a small packet.

When Cass got hers she wrote her name on it neatly with light blue pen and then began the quiz. Michael, Pete, and Henrietta just went through the test and circled random answers, none of them really cared.

When everyone was finished Mr. Psyck handed out the syllabus and went through it with the class.

“So Henrietta, how long have you known the boys?” Cass asked quietly as Mr. Psyck droned on about the material for this year.

“Elementary school.” she said before she began to doodle on the margins of her paper.

“That's cool. You draw?”

“Obviously.”

“Ace.”

“What?”

“Ace, it's Australian slang for nice.”

“Okay. Why did you move here?” Henrietta asked. She was genuinely interested why she moved here as South Park didn't get many new residents.

“Oh well my dad wanted to open a new branch here. He owns a retail chain, also a restaurant chain. And my other dad finished his law degree for American law so he wanted to come here to practice it.” Cass answered.

“You have two dads?” Henrietta asked looking up from her drawing.

“Yep.” Cass said with a smile.

“That's pretty nonconformist.” she said with a slight was that a smile?

“Thanks I guess. If it makes me less of a conformist my bio mom also lives with us.”

“That does make you less of a conformist.” Henrietta said. “You're not so bad after all.”

“Thanks.”

The bell went off and it was time for second period.

“Ready to go?” Cass asked as she stood up to her full height. Henrietta nodded and grabbed her bag. “See you boys at lunch.” Cass said waving goodbye to Michael and Pete.

Henrietta and Cass looked like an odd pair walking down the hallway. A tall tan girl dressed in colour and a short pale girl dressed head to toe in black.

“So when did you become a nonconformist?” Cass asked.

“Elementary school. Michael, Pete and I were fed up with all the conformist bullshit so we became nonconformists.”Henrietta answered. It was odd she was actually enjoying talking to Cass. Maybe it was just because she finally a had another girl to talk to or maybe Cass was just generally a cool person. It was definitely the first one.

“That's pretty nice. I don't think I could wear all black. I've done it before but in Australia I'd have a heat stroke.” Cass laughed.

“Heat strokes are for the weak.” Henrietta said jokingly.  _Wait did I just make a joke?_ She though to herself.

“Well feel free to come to Australia with me sometime and we can see who has a heat stroke first.” Cass said sarcastically.

“What's your favourite thing about South Park so far?” Henrietta asked Cass.  _I can't believe I'm actually having a conversation with her, the only people I do this with are the rest of us nonconformists_ Henrietta thought to herself.

“I have to say you guys. Y'all are really nice to me, nicer than I expected. You let me eat with y'all and never tell me to go away.” Cass said with a smile.

“Oh look we're here.” Henrietta said walking into the class room. This period was sculpting and 2-d art. They used to be separate classes but due to budget cuts were merged into one class.

Cass and Henrietta sat in the back of the class though Cass wanted to sit in the front. Firkle walked in the class shockingly. He walked over to the girls and sat down with them.

“Firkle, why are you here?” Cass asked. “I mean I'm happy you're here but why?”

“This is my second period.” he answered with one raised eyebrow.

“But you're a freshman. They merge the grades together here?” Cass asked.

“Do they not do that in Australia?” Firkle asked.

“Not too often. At least not where I went. But I did go to a private school.”

“Wow sucks for you. Bet you love public school then.”Henrietta said.

“Yeah it did suck. But now I'm here with two of my best friends and I couldn't love it anymore. Well I could if the whole gang was here.” Cass said with a grin. Firkle and Henrietta rolled their eyes.

The teacher, Mrs. Frizz, started the class like every other teacher has started their classes with an introduction and going over the syllabus. But instead of the usual ice breaker she had everyone in the class make a sculpture that reflected at least one thing about them.

Henrietta made a decaying petal to show how we all think we're beautiful but slowly wilt away. Firkle made a noose that held a cigarette to show that they both take the life out of you. Cass took a lighter approach though. She sculpted a crocodiles mouth that a waterfall spilled out of.

“Now we will all come up and share what our sculptures mean.” Mrs. Frizz said. “ How about we start with Henrietta.”

Henrietta made a small groan and got up. She brought her sculpture to the front of the room with her and set it on the table.

“This is called Wilting. It's a metaphor for how we all think we are like roses beautiful yet we can hurt. But we all wilt away after a short while. That's it.” she said very nonchalant before sitting back down. Firkle was up next he explained his and seemed terrified while he was up there  _Guess hes not much of a public speaker_ Cass thought.

“Cassandra.”

“Its Cass. My sculpture is the mouth of a crocodile not an Alligator with a waterfall spilling out. This is supposed to represent my home Australia. The Crocodile though deadly is calm and soothing to my eyes like a waterfall.” Cass said.

“Very nice next is Alexander.” Mrs. Frizz said.

Alexander was a tall boy who wore a varsity football jacket, blue jeans and running shoes. He had shaggy blonde hair and light stubble.

“So I made a football because football is my life. So yeah,come see the game this Friday.” he said before sitting down.

The bell rang just as the last student finished their presentation and everyone was off to lunch.


	9. F is for Friends

Lunch time carried out like it had the day before. Cass talked while the goth kids listened and occasionally spoke. Cass wished they'd talk to her more but she understood its just how they were.

Third period was Orchestra for Cass, none of the goth kids were in it with her. She got a little lost at first but a nice guy named Token showed her the way.

“You're new here right?” he asked.

“Yeah. I'm Cassandra Palamino, but you can call me Cass,” she introduced herself holding out her hand.

“I'm Token Black. Are you from Australia by any chance?” he asked shaking her hand.

“Yes actually I am. Just moved here over the summer. Do you by any chance know where the orchestra room is?” she asked.

“I'm going there right now. I can show you,” Token said.

The two reached the room and walked inside. There were kids from every grade in there, most of the class was juniors though. Cass assumed the class just sat like any other orchestra did and walked over the Bass section. Token sat there along with some other boy.

“You play bass?” Token asked Cass.

“Yeah. I've played since eighth grade. Who is this?” Cass asked.

“I'm Marlin Jenkins.” Marlin had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He looked to be shorter than Cass but it was hard to tell since they were sitting down.

They didn't do much in Orchestra that day except go over some rules and cite read some stuff. Cass enjoyed the class and couldn't wait for the next one. Her next class was with Michael, she smiled and luckily didn't get lost on her way to class.

This class didn't have a seating chart, yet, so Cass sat in the back and saved a seat for Michael. Michael walked in just before the bell rung and smelled like fresh smoke.

“Hey what took you so long?” Cass asked.

“I was taking a smoke break,” Michael answered sitting down next to her.

“Was it fun?”

“Nothing in life is fun.”

“There has to be one thing you find fun.”

“I don't find anything fun.”

“Well then this weekend we're going to hang out until I show you something you find fun,” Michael was about to protest when class started.

That class went by fairly quick at least for Cass and so did the rest of the week. Soon it was Saturday. As much as Michael had told her he was fine without hanging out she wouldn't take no for an answer.

So Michael had to hang out with Cass that day until she showed him something fun.


	10. Mean Girls

Michael was laying in his room waiting for Cass to pick him up and take him where ever she had in mind.

“Michael! You have a very pretty girl here to see you!” Michael's step-mother called from down stairs. Michael sighed, grabbed his trench coat and cane, and went downstairs.

In the living room Cass was talking to his step-mother. Cass was wearing a black crop top that showed off her sculpted mid riff from swimming and short shorts that started purple and faced to teal. Her hair was pulled back into a mess ponytail and she wore black converse with pink lipstick. She looked nice.

“Michael you never told me your friend was so pretty,” Mrs. Evans said.

“I don't tell you much of anything,” Michael said. It wasn't that he hated his step-mother it was just she would never be anything like his real mother.

“Well I won't keep you two, have fun.”

“Thank you Mrs. Evans it was a pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you again soon,” Cass said as Michael practically pushed her out the door with him.

“How long will this take?” Michael asked getting into her car. Even with his seat scooted back his knees still were too close to the dashboard.

“I don't know. How ever long it has to for you to have fun.” Cass put the car in gear and drove them to her house.

“Is this your house?” Michael asked as they drove up the long driveway.

“Yeah, everything is finally unpacked. Warning my family is a bit unconventional by most standards but they're all really nice,” Cass said.

Inside Cass took Michael's coat and hung it in the closet before they went to the kitchen.

“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Cass asked grabbing herself a sprite from the fridge.

“No,” Michael said plainly.

“Okay then to the living room. If you want something later you can just get it, no one will really care.” Cass lead the way to the living room and opened on of the cabinets on the wall. The cabinet was filled with comedies of all sorts.

“Movies?” Michael asked. Movies were not fun.

“Yes. We'll try some comedies first and by the end of the day we'll have found something fun,” Cass answered picking out some of her favourite movies. “Pick between Ghostbusters, The Watch and Mean Girls.”

“How about none of them?” Michael suggested laying back on the couch.

“Michael, you have to pick one. You can't leave until you do something fun and enjoy it,” Cass said standing up. “Now,” she dropped the movies in his lap “Pick one.”

Michael picked The Watch and while Cass was laughing hysterical he just sat there. He found some parts funny but not funny enough to warrant a smile. When that didn't work Cass put in Ghostbusters, he didn't really enjoy that movie at all. Found it too silly for a movie about ghosts, even Casper was better.

“Before we watch Mean Girls I'm going to make lunch. And you are eating,” Cass said pulling Michael into the kitchen with her.

“How does pizza sound?” Cass asked pulling out an oven bake pizza from the freezer.

“I don't care,” Michael answered sitting down in one of the bar stools at the island.

“Ok great. It will be about 20 minutes so we can either sit in here or the kit-”

“Haha! Got 'cha!” Xavier said pumping his fist into the air. Michael looked at Cass's brother and saw he had a Nerf gun in hand. The bullet was stuck to Cass's forehead.

“X! What did Dad say about shooting at my face?” Cass asked pulling the dart off her forehead.

“Not to do it. But him and Pops are out at lunch with mom.” Xavier smirked and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “Who's this?”

“This is Michael. One of my friends, we're watching movies so can you leave us alone?” Cass asked with her hands on her hips.

“Fine, fine. I'll leave but keep and eye out. I could be lurking anywhere.” And with that Xavier left the kitchen.

“Sorry about my brother. Both our dads have told him not to do it and so have our mom but does he listen? No!” Cass exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.

“Both your dads? And your Mom?” Michael asked. This was the most non-conformist thing about her so far.

“Yeah my Dads are gay and going to be married soon. But they liked their surrogate and wanted us to have a mom so she stayed with them. The only ones in a relationship are my dads, I don't even know if Mom is interested in a relationship,” Cass explained.

After the pizza was ready Michael and Cass sat back in the living room to watch Mean Girls. Cass loved this movie and Michael could see why, it was pretty funny.

“I just wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school. I wish I could bake a cake out of rainbows and smiles and we'd all be happy.”

“She doesn't even go here!” said the guy in the blue hoodie.

Michael burst out laughing and startled Cass so much she almost jumped. She had never heard him chuckle much less laugh hysterically.

“Michael are you okay?” Cass asked tentatively.

“That's fucking hilarious! Haha!” He said between laughs. Cass paused the movie and let Michael get all his laughter out.

“Ready to continue the movie?” she asked.

“If its as funny as that yes.” Cass played the movie. When it was over it was close to 6 in the evening.

“Do you want to watch another movie? Like Mean Girls 2? Its not as good as the first one but-”

“Sure, I have nothing better to do,” Michael answered. In all honesty he was having fun hanging out with Cass. Cass smiled at him and put in Mean Girls 2.

At some point Cass fell asleep and curled up next to Michael. Michael didn't know what to do so he just sat there and watched the movie until he too fell asleep.  


	11. Dancing on the Kitchen Tiles

The rays of light shining through the window and directly on Cass's face woke her up. She yawned and snuggled back into her 'pillow' and pulled her blanket up.

Michael felt her do this and laid back so he was on the couch more. Cass snuggled into his chest and he placed an arm around her.

The pair slept like this not realizing fully they were doing it until Cass's father turned on the Keurig. Michael snapped awake instantly while Cass slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

“Good morning sleepyheads. Did you two sleep well?” her dad asked.

“Mmmm... Yeah I did. Michael you make a very nice pillow,” Cass said sitting up a bit.

“Thanks...” Michael said awkwardly. He had never slept near a girl, it was nice though. Even though it was Cass.

“Well your pop made some pancakes earlier this morning and wanted to go out to eat. You can come too... I'm sorry I don't even know your name?”

“Michael.”

“Pleasure to meet you Michael. I'm Christopher, but you can call me Chris or Dad, either is fine.” Chris left the room to go upstairs and give the kids some privacy.

Cass and Michael ate breakfast at the island with the radio on in the background. They ate silently not even really looking at each other.

“I won't tell the goth kids about any of this if you don't want me to,” Cass said putting her dish in the dishwasher.

“Its not like they will ask,” Michael said.

“Still, I know you don't want to be thought of as a conformist. So if my not saying anything keeps it that way I can keep my mouth shut. Believe it or not I do shut up at time.” Cass laughed and sat back down next to Michael.

Michael was a slow eater so he just sat there and listened to Cass talk about everything. She wasn't as bad as he had first thought. She could about anything from Dinosaurs to H.P Lovecraft. He did prefer when she talked about Lovecraft.

“Oh my god! I love this song!” Cass jumped up out of her chair and began dancing to “Will you still love me tomorrow” by the Shirleys. “Michael come dance with me!”

Cass pulled Michael out of his seat and began to dance with him. Since Michael secretly loved to dance he was very good. They danced around the kitchen with Cass laughing and Michael cracking a small smile.

The song ended and Cass was caught up in the moment. She smiled and kissed Michael, he froze. Then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.  _What am I doing? This isn't like me_ he thought. When they pulled away Cass was staring at him with her eyes wide.

“I'm so sorry, I don't know what-”

“Its okay. I kind of liked it honestly,” he said cutting her off. Cass blushed. She had only known Michael for a week and was already falling for him. This sounded like a cheesy romance novel by Nicolas Sparks or someone.

“So what do we do now forget it which is the non-conformist thing or...?”

“Let me figure out how to tell the rest of the goth kids. For now this can be our thing?” Michael was nervous. He had never dated anyone before and didn't know if he should even do this conformist thing. Cass was quiet for a moment.

“I'd like that,” she said and kissed him again. Michael didn't know what he should do but he did know he liked kissing her.


	12. Date Night

It had been two weeks since what Michael and Cass called “the kiss”. At school they acted just like they had before, Cass being talkative as ever and Michael listening quietly.

But after school the two would go back to Cass's house and watch movie or just listen to music while laying on her bed. Sometimes she even convinced him to sit out in pool with her. Most of the time he just sat under the umbrella while she swam around.

“So what are you doing this weekend?” she asked Michael her head resting on his stomach.

“I think Henrietta and the boys wanted to spend Friday night reading dark poetry at her place. You can come too,” he answered. His long fingers lazily moved through her silky hair.

“Sure thing, do you wanna do something just the two of us before it? Or maybe Saturday?”

“We see each other everyday, do we need to plan something?”

“Yeah, we've never gone on a date before.” She sat up with a grin. “We could go to the movies, or the park, or a diner. Just something simple that we planned for the two of us!”

Michael smiled, something she seemed to bring out in the past week. She looked so excited, her eyes bright like those car headlights that bothered everyone.

And that's how Michael was now going to dinner, just him and Cass, Saturday night at the local pizza joint. Cass was picking him up per usual so he sat in his room waiting for the text that she was at his place.

“MICHAEL!” his step mother called up.

“What?” he opened the door and called back.

“That pretty girl is here for you!”

Michael knew the only person his step-mother called pretty was Cass so he grabbed his stuff and went downstairs.

“Hey,” Cass said with a small wave from the couch.

“Ready to go?” he asked in a very deadpan voice, though he was actually happy to see her.

She nodded and stood up from the couch. She wore a black scoop collar dress with a very pretty lace pattern that matched her stockings. Her lips were a dark red, a new colour on her, and her eyes a smokey canvas. She looked beautiful.

The two finally left after Michael's mom kept talking to Cass about how “nice she was” and how much she hopes “ you will date my boy”.

“You're step-mother really likes me,” Cass commented in the car.

“I can't see why she wouldn't. You're not a goth kid, you smile, you're pretty, practically the opposite of me and the rest of the goth kids,” he listed off on his fingers.

“Well they do say opposites attract,” she smiled at him as she started up the car.

Cass did most of the talking on the drive there while soft jazz played in the background. Every so often Michael would comment on something she said or add little anecdotes but didn't talk much. Still more than he used to with her.

Michael was a little apprehensive to holding hands with Cass for fear of others seeing,though did give in. He liked holing her hand, it was soft and warm.

The hostess sat the couple down near the window and the waiter soon took their drink orders. It took a little while to decide on a pizza what with Michael hating pineapple on pizza and Cass loving it. Eventually the two decided on an black olive, green pepper, and mushroom pizza.

“How are you enjoying South Park?” Michael asked.

“Its so cold. Like I can't believe its this cold and its barely September yet.” Michael chuckled at the Australian's issue with the weather. “Yeah laugh it up goth boy, but I've had to bring a jacket with me everywhere.”

“You didn't bring one tonight,” he commented.

“Yeah, I'll probably join you under yours at some point.” Cass laughed and took a sip of her water.

“You're small enough to fit,”

“I may be small but you've seen how strong I am.” Its true she was strong, Michael saw her hold back a 180lbs dog from jumping on him in excitement once.

The waiter brought over the pizza and as Cass thanked him Michael saw Craig and Tweek walk in the restaurant. He quickly looked away and hoped they didn't notice him.

“What's wrong?” Cass asked taking a bite of her pizza.

“Two kids from school, I hope they didn't see me,” he said looking down at his drink. When he looked up Cass looked sad?

“Its not that I don't want them to see me with you, its just dating isn't-”

“Non-conformist,” she smiled a bit, but he could see it was forced.

Michael got up and placed both his hands on the sides of her face before pressing his lips to hers. He smiled into the kiss before pulling away, taking out his phone and taking a photo of him kissing her cheek.

“What was the for?” she asked.

“Its time the rest of the goths know that I have the most wonderful girlfriend,” he said hitting send.

Cass's phone buzzed, it was the group chat. Michael had just texted the photo he took to the whole group. She smiled threw her arms around his neck.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his neck. Michael just smiled and kissed the top of her head.


	13. Aftermath

Michael and Cass went back to her house to watch a movie like they usually liked to do. Neither paid much attention to the movie and were paying more attention to the group chat. No one had responded to the photo from earlier.

“Do you think they saw it?” he asked refreshing the chat every two seconds.

“Does it say any of them saw it?”

“No.”

“Then they didn't see it. They're your friends I'm sure they want you to be happy, even if its with a conformist.” Cass sat up and kissed his cheek. He smiled, put his phone on the nightstand, and laid back with his head next to her.

As conformist as it was to like doing this cute stuff with Cass, he didn't mind. He liked laying next to her in a huge blanket pile. He liked holding her hand or kissing her cheek. He liked the way he felt whenever he saw her. He just liked her.

For the rest of the movie Michael played with her fingers, memorizing every inch. Occasionally she would start to drift off to sleep but would wake herself up.

“If you're tired just go to sleep,” he said.

“Nah I gotta drive you home, your parents wouldn't like me keeping you overnight.” Cass yawned and snuggled her face into his shoulder.

“They would love it, just go to sleep.”

Cass smiled, kissed his cheek and wrapped herself up in his coat. Before Cass got too comfy or moved to lay on him he took off his white button down leaving him in a white tank top. Laying back down he opened his arms and Cass curled up into his side. He kissed the top of her head and fell asleep not even caring what anyone thought of them.


	14. What did they say

Michael opened his eyes to the sun shining brightly through the window. He squinted while his eyes adjusted. He looked down and saw Cass was still asleep. She had drooled on him a little but he didn't mind, he found it cute in a way. There was a knock at the door and the door opened to reveal Cass's dad, Christopher.

“Sorry did I wake you. I just wanted to check on you two make sure everything was okay. There is breakfast on the counter.” And with that he closed the door. Her dad was pretty chill.

Michael picked up his phone from the nightstand and saw he his phone had a bunch of new messages. His mind flashed back to the night before when he sent that picture to the group chat. He didn't regret it one bit but was still nervous what the rest of the group would say.

He unlocked his phone and apprehensively opened the messages telling himself it didn't matter what they thought. But to him it did. These were his best friends people he had known since elementary school and even though they didn't ever say it or act like it they were practically a family.

“what did they say?”

He looked back at Cass who was now awake. Her hair was a mess and her eyes still tired but she had never looked more beautiful to him.

“I haven't read it yet,” he said just starring at the phone. He couldn't bring himself to actually open the message.

“Here let me check the chat,” she grabbed her phone and read through the messages her face not showing emotion one way or another.

“Well?”

“I think you should see for yourself.”

Michael got up the courage and opened the messages.

_'Nice picture' – Henrietta_

_'Yeah, are we still on for walking through the cemetery on Monday night?'- Pete_

_'Does this mean you two will be making out in front of us?' - Firkle_

_'No it doesn't it means that now we have our first non-conformist couple' -Pete_

_'Yeah whatever. I'm down for the cemetery on Monday if y'all are?? :)' - Cass_

_'Sounds like a plan then.' -Henrietta_

They didn't even bat an eye. Michael couldn't believe it. He looked at Cass who had a big smile spread out on her cute face.

“I told you everything would be fine.” She kissed his cheek and snuggled back into his warmth. He smiled and felt a weight come off his shoulders literally and figuratively.

“Come on, I heard there was breakfast downstairs.” Cass pulled Michael's coat around her. The sleeves were too long and so was the coat in general but she didn't seem to mind. Besides she looked adorable.

Michael got up and followed his girlfriend down the stairs to the kitchen were the rest of the family was eating breakfast at the table.

“Well good morning losers, and by losers I mean Cass,” X said taking a bite of eggs.

“Good morning to you too twerp,” she replied back playfully ruffling his hair. “Babe what do you want to eat?” she asked getting out two plates.

“Whatever is fine,” he said stretching his long arms above his head.

The couple ate breakfast with Cass's family before they went back upstairs.

“So what do you want to do today?” Cass asked brushing her long hair.

“As long as I'm with you we can do whatever,” Michael said being more romantic than usual.

“You're such a sap,” she teased kissing the man.


	15. In too Deep

Monday came sooner than later and that meant school did too. Cass and Michael were sitting in home room together. Cass was doodling on her paper while Michael scrolled through his phone and listened to music.

“Hey Cass.” Cass looked up to see Kyle standing in front of her desk. He looked nervous.

“Hey Kyle, what's up?” She asked looking up from her paper and smiling at him.

“Well a bunch of us are going to the drive in this Friday I was wondering if you would like to go with me?” he asked scratching the back of his neck and blushing. Michael stopped scrolling and looked up Kyle barely even moving his head.

“While I would love to Kyle, I already have plans with some friends, but maybe another girl would like to go with you.” Cass said trying to reject the boy as nicely as possible. Kyle nodded and said, “thanks”, before he went back to his seat where his friends eagerly awaited the news.

“I don't like that kid,” Michael said glaring at the back of Kyle's curly orange locks.

“He's just trying to be nice to the new girl. Besides I have better plans for Friday,” Cass said leaning in to kiss his cheek. Michael pulled back a little and Cass stopped and smiled at him.

“You know the only way people will know I'm yours is if you show them.”Cass ran her fingers through he boyfriend's hair ruffling it a little. She patted his shoulder and went back to doodling until class started.

The day went by slowly for Michael, all he wanted was to get out and go home. The classes dragged on and on until it was finally time to go home. Waiting for him by her was his beautiful girlfriend who while he had seen her most of the day he still missed when he wasn't near her.

“Heya handsome, how was class?” she asked twirling her keys on her slender finger with the tips painted red.

“Boring,” he said lighting up a cigarette. He took a drag, exhaled and repeated. The couple were waiting for the rest of their non-conformist gang to meet them before they were going to Henrietta's house for some poetry reading. Soon enough Henrietta,Firkle, and Pete were making their way over.

“Are you guys ready?” Henrietta asked taking a drag from her cigarette. She still liked to smoke using that fancy pipe of hers.

“Been ready all day,” Pete said flipping his bangs out of the way.

“Hey Pete!”

The gang turned to see a boy with black and green hair running at them. He wore a black overcoat and a shirt underneath with a yellow smiley face with the eyes stitched out into x's. He was tall but nowhere near as tall as Michael.

“Hey Pete, its me, Mike, you know, Vampir” Pete just stared at Vampir. Or more glared at him. “I was wondering if I could tag along, I have some poetry I want to show you.”

“Go away vampire freak,” Firkle said stomping out his cigarette.

“Well I mean I could always just sit there-”

“No way are you riding in my car again. That was a one time deal kid,” Henrietta said doing the same as Firkle. Vampir looked at Pete who looked the other way before heading back in the other direction.

“Who was that?” Cass asked.

“That's Mike or as he likes to be called Vampir. He's one of those vampire kids,” Michael explained.

“What did he want with Pete?”

“He's really gay for Pete, like really badly. He follows us around and always tries to hang out with us. Even his own kind is bothered by it,” Henrietta said.

“That's kind of sad that he is shunned by his kind”

“Come on lets get going, no need to be in the hell hole any longer than necessary,” Pete said abruptly changing the topic. He looked at Vampir once more who was still walking away before getting in the car.

They arrived at Henrietta's house, luckily her mother wasn't home yet, and made their way up to her bedroom. Her bedroom now had dark purple walls with classy paintings on them, those class paintings were mainly medical drawing or dark themed images. Her bed was in one corner and there was a large pile of clothes on it. All in all her room hadn't changed much, it was still dark and gloomy, just got darker and gloomier.

Michael sat on the floor against the wall, with Pete to his right. Firkle pushed some clothes off the bed and sat crisscrossed on the bed. Cass decided to plop her self between her boyfriend's long legs. She leaned back against him making him blush slightly. He had never had this much contact with her around the rest of the goth kids.

“Can we hold hands?” she asked looking up at him with innocent eyes. She was too adorable to say no to. Michael held out his hand and she smiled and took it in her own.

The gang read poetry until the late hours of the evening when Cass started getting tired. She was constantly switching between awake and half sleep in Michael's arms. His head rested atop hers and placed a small kiss there when no one was looking.

“God you two are so gross,” Henrietta said mocking them lovingly.

“I can't help it,” Michael said. “She makes me feel in a way I've never felt. All I want to do is be with her all the time. God that Broflovsky kid asked her out earlier and I have never been so annoyed with him.”

“You were jealous...dude you are in deep,” Firkle chimed in with a sly grin. He was probably the happiest that the two got together. He liked Cass a lot and was happy that she had solidified her place in their group. Even if she was sort of a conformist.

“Shut up,” Michael said back with a chuckle. He looked down at his girlfriend once more and smiled. She really was something else.


	16. Michael Feels Like an Idiot

Homecoming was a week away and Cass still hadn't figured out what she was going to do. She could either A:go alone, B: drag Michael or, C: not go. None of those seemed like a good option to her. Sure she wanted to go but she didn't want to drag her boyfriend there. She wanted him to go of his own accord. And she really wanted to go to her first America homecoming so not going wasn't a good answer. She had spent the past week trying to come up with solution and still hadn't found one.

Michael had started to notice she was less cheerful than normal and a lot more subdued. She even seemed to be sleeping less. Today it was just the two of them at an empty park.

“So what do you want to do this weekend?” he asked lighting a cigarette. She didn't answer just kept starring at the trees in the distance. “Cass, you there?”

“What? Did you say something?” she asked snapping out of it.

“Yeah. I asked if you wanted to do something this weekend? Are you okay, you seem really out of it lately, it isn't like you?” Michael was genuinely concerned for his girlfriend.

“I'm fine, just have a lot on my mind is all. Yeah lets do a movie at my place.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes enjoying the sounds of the outside and enjoying each others company. Then Michael spoke.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No its not big deal.”

“I think it is. You're always bummed and just generally not yourself. You're even sleeping less. What's wrong?”

“I just have a dilemma. I want to do something but I know I'd have to do it alone but I don't want to. But I don't want to force anyone to do anything. Its just a stupid thing though,” She said. She had thrown up the words like she had been holding them in for so long.

“Well don't do it then, if you're not going to be happy doing it then don't easy as that.”

“Yeah you're right.” Cass sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She knew he was right and made a few good point but she still wasn't happy with the answer she got. Rather than bring it up again and hint at homecoming she let it go.

Cass was absent from school the next day which wasn't too odd until she didn't respond to Michael's texts. Michael brought it up to the other goths at lunch and they were dumbfounded that he hadn't figured it out.

“Dude homecoming is next weekend,” Pete said.

“Yeah and...?”

“She wants to go. She's been driving herself crazy trying to figure out how to ask you. She figured you'd say no and has been stressing over that. It's her first American homecoming and she really wants to go. Probably stressed so much it made her sick,” Firkle explained for Michael.

After Firkle said that everything made sense. Her constant spacing out, the loss of energy, and the dilemma she was dealing with.

“Henrietta would you mind giving me a lift to her place? I need to do something.”

“An excuse to skip school? I'll take it,” she answered but deep down she was really just a sucker for the romance aspect.

The two drove through town barely hitting any traffic. When they arrived at Cass's house Michael got out while Henrietta sat in the car.

He walked up to the heavy wooden doors and rang the doorbell. He waited before ringing it again. And again. Finally he heard some movement behind the door followed by the door unlocking. Cass peered out with a blanket wrapped around her.

“Michael? What are you doing here? Don't you have school? You didn't skip did you?” she asked. She looked tired and much paler than normal.

“No, well I mean yes but that doesn't matter.”

“Yes it does you can't just-”

“What matters,” he said cutting her off. “Is that I have been a terrible boyfriend. I have been ignoring your feelings and not listening to you carefully. I'm sorry and if you would I would like to take you to homecoming next weekend.”

“Michael you really don't have to I know it's not you thing.”

“Its not but its something you want to do. And if it makes you happy then,” he paused and then spoke a little softer, “ it makes me happy.”

Cass just stared at Michael. He thought he might have made her malfunction until she started crying a little. Then he really thought he made her malfunction.

“I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry-”

“No,no, they're happy tears. I would love to go to homecoming with Michael. Thank you for asking me.” She looked up at him and smiled before throwing her arms around his neck. Michael smiled and wrapped his arms around her in return.

Both of them then felt their phones buzz and pulled apart to check them. It was the group chat. Henrietta had sent a video of the 'homecoming proposal' out to the group chat. Michael turned to see her in the car giving them a thumbs up, but one that made her seem like she didn't care.

“You know sometimes I think our friends enjoy our relationship more than they let on,” Cass said leaning her head against Michael's shoulder.

“Yeah well I know they don't enjoy it more than I do,” He rested his head atop hers.

“Come on in. I know you're not going back to school might as well curl up on the couch with me. Might help me feel better.” Cass lead Michael inside after she waved goodbye to Henrietta.

The two spent the rest of the day curled up next to each other while watching terrible movies and stupid comedies. Michael was glad to see Cass returning to her usual self and he was even more glad to know she was excited about the weekend.


	17. Say Yes to the Dress

“What about this one?”

“No.”

“Henrietta, you've said no to all of them. Can you at least give me a reason for the no?”

Cass had dragged Henrietta out dress shopping for homecoming and Henrietta wasn't enjoying it. They had been at the mall for almost two hours and Cass still hadn't found anything.

“Well for one thing...” Henrietta began “It doesn't match your hair. Neon colours don't go well with your burgundy to blonde hair thing you have going on. Secondly you're trying to wear a dress meant for someone with a petite figure. While you are small, you also are very fit. You have muscular arms, shoulder and legs, show them off. And most importantly, you're worrying too much. Just relax, we'll find you a dress.”

“Henrietta that was so-”

“Don't speak a word of that to anyone. But you're welcome.”

With Henrietta's feedback in mind Cass went back into the field of dresses to find something that would work with her hair and body. Henrietta meanwhile sat on a bench near the dressing room on her phone. Cass thought she had found the perfect one until...

“That one won't work either,” came Henrietta's voice from behind her.

“What? Why “ This one is-”

“It's too long. Its going to make you appear like a rectangle,” Henrietta explained.

“Well what's wrong with looking like a rectangle?” Cass asked. Henrietta merely gave Cass a look. “Alright, I get it. Its not good. I'll keep looking.”

Cass went back to looking at the dresses and assumed Henrietta was going back to the bench. But, Henrietta actually started looking for dresses as well.

“Here try this one, that one, and the black one,” she said handing Cass some dresses. “These should help us narrow down what you like and what you feel comfortable in.” Cass nodded and then went inside the dressing room.

Inside the dressing room she slid off her top and shorts and eyed herself in the mirror. Henrietta was right, she had a petite figure but she was also muscular from years of swimming. Her waist while small was not particularly defined. Thinking back those dresses from earlier didn't look horrible but necessarily flatter her as much as these other ones might.

The first dress Henrietta handed her was an off the shoulder dress. Lace adorned the top and sleeves. At the waist the lace trailed out to a flowing skirt that stopped just above the knees. The dress was light pink. It was a nice dress but she didn't think it suited her. Henrietta agreed.

The next contestant was teal halter top high-low dress. The ruffles were nice but she felt the length hid most of her legs and made them look like toothpicks rather than legs. It was still a nice dress, just not the one for her.

Lastly was the all black dress. Cass didn't wear all black much but maybe this would be on the of the few times she did. The dress had thick straps leading down to Venezuela where it met with the rest of the dress. While the skirt made her legs look nice she wasn't exactly comfortable with how much of her chest and stomach it showed. Especially for a school dance.

Cass left the dressing room feeling dejected and hopeless. There was no way she'd find a dress by Saturday. It shouldn't have even been that hard. But of course it was, nothing could ever be that easy.

The pair was about to walk out of the store when Cass saw the dress. She knew it had to be the one. She pulled Henrietta along with her to the dressing room grabbing the dress along the way. Cass quickly tried on the dress and she had the biggest grin. She showed Henrietta the dress and both girls agreed it was the one.

Cass bought the dress and grabbed some lunch before heading home. Everything was in place and Cass couldn't wait until Saturday.


	18. Beautiful Tonight

 

The day was finally here. Homecoming. Cass was over the moon about going to her first American homecoming. She had spent the whole morning treating herself to a nice bath, a facial treatment, and a healthy breakfast. Couldn't dance the night away on an empty stomach.

While Cass was ecstatic about homecoming, Michael was not. He had spent the whole morning dreading going to a school event, much less one with loud pop music and people constantly grinding on each other. The only thing that he was actually looking forward to was seeing Cass.

When the time came Michael put on his suit and went to pick up his date, thankfully his parents were letting him borrow the car for the night. Michael rang the doorbell and stood outside the heavy doors until he heard her Mom yelling she was coming.

“Hello, Michael. Are you here to pick up Cass?” she asked.

“Yes we're going to homecoming together,” he said. He shifted uncomfortably as he said 'homecoming' still not excited about the event.

“Oh I know. It's all she's been talking about. She's spent the whole day getting ready. She should be coming down soon.”

“Mom, is that Michael?!” Cass yelled from her room, her voice echoing in the large foyer.

“Yes! Are you almost ready?” Her mother called back up.

“Coming down now. Can you get Dad and Pop? They wanted to see me out!”

Allison excused herself and left Michael in the foyer. He pulled out his phone to see if any of his friends texted him. Nothing, not unusual, Cass was really the only one to text a lot. Allison came back with Cass's dads before she shooed them upstairs to walk their daughter down the stairs.

“Allison get the camera ready you don't want to miss this!” William called down.

“I'm ready whenever you three are!”

Michael couldn't believe his eyes. Cass looked gorgeous, she always did to him, but tonight she was glowing. Her long hair was pulled back in a fancy ponytail that was in curls at the ends. Her makeup was immaculate and made her eyes pop.

Her dress was a strapless sweetheart dress ending above her knees. The top was white with jewels on the neckline and a pattern of jewels on the left side. The fabric was pulled tight to create a sense of texture. The skirt faded from white to a medium blue and was a mass of ruffles.

She wore a simple silver locket and some silver bangles on her wrist. Her earrings were the same shade of blue as her dress. Silver high heels encased her feet and made her tall, though not as tall as her dads.

“Hey,” she said standing in front of Michael. In her heels the top of her head reached Michael's nose.

“Hey,” he said. “You, uh, look nice.”

“You don't look too bad yourself,” she said.

It was true. Michael had actually dressed very nicely for the night. He wore a white button down with a Chinese style black trench coat with ornate buttons and cuffs. He opted for simple black slacks and some black dress shoes. His tie matched her dress, thanks to Henrietta, and he even wore a blue earring instead of his usual cross. He still had his cane too, though it was in the car.

“Thanks,” he said. He had never been nervous around her before but tonight was something else.

“Come on you two, we need to get pictures,” Chris said.

“Dad,” Cass groaned.

“Now, now, you'll want picture to look back on years later. You know your father and I met each other at a school dance.”

“Yeah, yeah, and the rest is history. We know,” Cass joked. “Come on Michael, they won't let it go. Let's just let them have their pictures then we can go.”

The couple stood together while her Dad took multiple pictures. “Now one with your arms around her.” Click! “Now one with you two hugging.” Click! “Now one holding hands.” Click! Click! Click! It seemed impossible to take so many pictures in one sitting but apparently not to Cass's family.

“Alright, you two have fun! Be safe! Don't get into trouble! Call if you need anything!” Cass's parents called from the door as the two were leaving.

“Bye you three! Don't stay up!” Cass called back. Her parents smiled and waved once more before closing the door and going inside. Michael opened the door for Cass and helped her inside before going to his side and getting in the car.

“Ugh, sorry about my parents. They can be so pushy with pictures sometimes,” Cass apologized.

“Don't worry about it. I didn't think parents took pictures anymore.” Michael started the car and the two drove towards the school.

“Mine love to. Allison makes scrapbooks out of all the pictures. I kid you not, we have 3 from just my first 6 months alive.” Michael chuckled at that. “Remind me never to show you those. I was not a cute baby.”

“Well you're cute now, “ he said blushing. Cass noticed his blush and gave a small smile. The two were stopped at red light. She leaned over and gave him a small peck on the cheek only making him blush more.

“I think you're very cute as well,” she said.

The rest of the car ride was filled with soft music playing from the radio and Cass talking about her day. It was just as her mother said, filled with her getting ready for the dance. Finally the two arrived at the school, they could see multi coloured lights coming from the gym windows.

“Hey before we go in I just wanted to say... thank you. I know this isn't your thing by a long shot but you still came because you wanted to make me happy. I appreciate that. Thank you,” Cass said smiling up at him. Now it was time to make her blush.

Michael leaned down and brought his lips to hers in a soft kiss. Her lips tasted like the cherry lip gloss she was wearing, but he didn't mind. All he wanted was to kiss his girlfriend. He pulled away slowly leaving a blushing Cass.

“Come on, lets give you the American homecoming experience.”

 


	19. Dance the Night Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been so long since I updated. I got super busy with work and since I work retail I got super busy from the holidays.

 

Inside the gym was loud. Music was blaring from speakers and lights of all different colours danced across the walls and floor. Students were grouped together dancing, well more like grinding rhythmically on each other, in the center of the gym.

“Wow, its so amazing,” Cass said. Her eyes were wide in awe. Her first American homecoming was already so much better than her Australian one. She loved it.

Michael did not love it. He thought the music was unbearable and the so-called 'dancing' was awful. He felt like vomiting.

“Oooh Michael, lets go get some punch! I've always wanted to get punch at a dance!” Cass pulled her boyfriend along with her to the refreshments. She grabbed two cups and filled them punch. She was about to take a drink when Michael stopped her.

“Don't drink the punch,” he said.

“What why?”

“It smells like alcohol. Someone spiked the punch,” he explained. He had drank enough alcohol, mainly wine, to know what it smelt like.

“And why do people do that again?”

“For shit's and giggles I guess. If you want to drink alcohol you should just drink alcohol, not spike punch they probably got from the dollar store.” Michael shrugged. He found most of the things people did were stupid and just for stupid reasons.

“This is so different than the dances back home,” Cass said.

“What were your dances like at home?”

“Not of lot of dancing. People mainly stood about a foot apart and couldn't put their hands below the shoulders. Dresses had to be past the knees, no cleavage at all. Not to mention all the music was pretty dull. If there was any hit of suggestive lyrics it wasn't played. The dances were pretty awful.” Michael stared at Cass, were schools in Australia really like that. “I went to a private school that was super dull. My dads' went there which is hilarious since the school was sort of anti-gay and obviously my dads' are not straight.”

The couple walked around the gym for a while longer to let Cass look at all the decorations then took a seat at a table in the corner. Cass couldn't stop grinning and even though Michael wanted to be anywhere else he couldn't deny he loved seeing her this happy.

Cass and Michael talked among themselves with people,mainly boys, coming over to say her and tell her how nice she looked. But one look from Michael and they didn't stay too long.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen we're going to slow things down for a bit and say how wonderful you all look tonight,” the DJ said. The opening notes to “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton flowed through the speakers and enveloped the gym. The couples stopped grinding and began to slow dance together.

Michael was content just staying at the table but when he saw how Cass looked at the other couples dancing he knew he couldn't let her just sit there.

“May I have this dance Cassandra?” he asked standing up and holding out his hand to her. Cass stared up at him and then at his hand before nodding and taking his hand.

Michael lead her out to the dance floor and placed his hand on her waist while the other held her hand in his. She looked around before placing her free hand on his shoulder. It had never occurred to him that Cass wouldn't know how to dance but when he thought back to what she said her previous dances were it made sense.

“Now we're just going to move slowly, very little footwork. This isn't ballroom, it just more of a sway with a small turn here and there,” he said. “Does that sound okay?” Cass gave a small nod.

The two moved slowly with the rhythm with the occasional turn or step taking place.

“You're doing well, want to try a spin?” Michael asked.

“What if I mess it up?”

“You won't.”

Michael let go of her waist and gave her the go ahead to turn. She closed her eyes and spun but lost her balance in her heels. She was waiting to hit the ground but felt Michael's arm around her back.

“You good?” he asked. She blushed and nodded.

Michael brought her back up and the two began to dance once again. He introduced new steps and without thinking about it brought them to the center of the floor. All eyes were on them as he lead her through dips and twists.

When the song ended everyone erupted in applause. It was only then that Cass noticed how many people had been watching them. She flushed red and saw Michael was red too.

The two left the dance floor quickly and went outside where they usually took lunch. Michael lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall next to Cass.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” she asked brushing some hair from her face.

“I used to dance. Stan got me to dance against the Orange County Crew back in elementary school.”

“Well you're really good babe. Like that was amazing.”

Michael blushed and said a small thanks.

When he had finished his cigarette the two went back inside to find everyone grinding once more. Seems like that would be the rest of the night.

“Want to get out of here?” she asked.

“You sure? I thought you were looking forward to this.”

“I was, and I got what I wanted. We can go get some coffee if you want.”

The couple left the dance and drove over to Benny's. They sat and talked for a while before Cass felt herself getting tired.

“Let's get you home sleeping beauty.”

Back at Cass's home Michael helped her out of the car and to the door.

“Thank you Michael, I had a lot of fun,” Cass said rubbing her eyes.

“Anything for you. Now go get some sleep, I'll see you Monday.” Michael gave her a small kiss before heading back to his car. When he was back in the car he felt his phone buzz. It was Pete.

_'How was it?'_

_'Honestly, not as bad I though it would be.'_

 


	20. Just Keep Swimming

 

It had been a few weeks since Homecoming and things at school were the same as they had been before. Cass would go to her classes, eat lunch with her friends and boyfriend, and after school either spend time at home or out with the goths. It was simple and repetitive but she enjoyed it.

Today was not one of those days. Today was the day she was going to be trying out for the South Park high school swim team. The team had only formed about 3 years ago and they honestly weren't that good. Cass was hoping to change that.

She said goodbye to her friends and drove to the nearby indoor pool. As it turned out South Park only had one pool for the whole town. It made it easier to find even though it was tucked away near the outskirts of town.

When Cass arrived she saw a small group of kids from school. There was Nicole, Tweak, Clyde, Red and a few others she didn't remember the names for.

“Excuse me is this the right place for the South Park swim team tryouts?” she asked.

“Yep you're in the right place! You must be new here. I'm Alexander.” Alexander stuck his hand out and Cass gave it a polite shake.

“Actually I think we have art class together. I made the crocodile sculpture on my first day? You did a football one?”

“Oh right! The Foreign chick! I didn't know you liked sports.”

“I really only like swimming, other than that I don't really do sports.”

“Still a girl who likes sports is pretty ho-”

“Alright everyone quiet down and listen up!” All the kids turned around to see Coach Reville. “If you're here that means you want to be on the South Park High School Swim Team. The question today is if you are ready to be on this team.”

She lead the kids to the locker rooms. The boys went off on their own and the girls followed her into the locker room.

“I don't think I need to explain this but there will be no bikinis or anything other than single piece sport swimsuits. If you don't have one we will allow it today but if you make on the team you will have to wear the correct uniform.” All the girls nodded their heads. “When you're finished meet me by the pool. You have 5 minutes.” Coach Reville left and the girls went to changing.

Cass had brought her old swimsuit that she used for the team back in Australia. It was plain black except for the teams logo on the top right.

“Do you think you'll be able to make it?” Cass turned and saw Red pulling her hair into a bun.

“I hope so. I really love swimming,” Cass answered.

“Its pretty fun. Most of the time we lose the meets but its still fun to swim.”

“This team isn't about having fun you know?”

Cass and Red spun around and saw a tall girl with black hair that was cut in a bob.

“I'm sorry?” Cass said not sure if she should be apologizing.

“Yeah, you should be. If you want to have fun go swimming on the weekend. Don't ruin my squad just because you want to swim.” The girl walked away and Cass just stared in disbelief.

“Who was that?” she asked Red.

“Oh that's Veronica Mildrew. She's been on the team since she was a freshman and is honestly a bitch.”

“Yeah she definitely seems like it.”

The girls finished changing and made their way out to the pool where the Coach and some of the boys were waiting. Once everyone had joined Coach Reville went over the swim team tryout process.

“First thing is going to be a test of your knowledge. I'm going to call out certain strokes and you have to swim one lap. This will determine how comfortable you are with that stroke and if you know how to do it properly. This will be done in groups of five. Then in the same groups of five you'll do two laps of the side stroke, two butterfly, two back stroke, and two freestyle. Once everyone has gone tryouts will be over and the results will posted by Friday outside my office.”

Coach Reville told everyone to get in groups of five. Cass and Red were in one group with two boys neither of them knew and Veronica.

The tryouts went fairly fast and soon Cass was showering the locker room before heading home. She felt she had done pretty well and was confident she would be considered for the team.

Before getting in the car she felt her phone buzz. It was a text from Michael.

_'Did you make the team?'_

_'I'll know Friday morning. The results will be posted by the athletic offices'_

_'okay. Do you want to grab some dinner and watch a movie?'_

_'Sure'_

Cass got in her car and drove over to the City Wok to get some dinner for her and Michael. By the time she got home he was already inside in the living room watching her brother play some video game.

“Hey babe, hope X didn't bother you too much. I know he can be annoying all the time.”

“I am not! Besides he wanted to watch me play Sylent Psychopath 3: The revenge of Marvdo,” Xavier said not even looking away from his game.

“He was fine. What did you get for dinner?”

“I got us some City Wok. I got you your favourite,” Cass said handing Michael the bag. “Come on lets head upstairs. See you X, have fun killing whatever.” Xavier just gave a nod not even looking away from the screen.

“So how do you think you did?” Michael asked sitting down on her bed and unpacking the food.

“I think I did well. It didn't seem hard so that either means I did great or horrible.”

“I'm sure you did great.”

“Thanks babe,” Cass said planting a kiss on Michael's cheek. “So what do you want to watch?”

“I don't care, what's on Netflix?”

The pair browsed through Netflix for a while before deciding on some low budget horror movie. Cass only made it 20 minutes in before she fell asleep on top of Michael. When he noticed she was asleep he only smiled, turned the volume down, and got ready to sleep as well.

 


	21. The Results

 

The week had passed excruciatingly slow for Cass. All she wanted to know was if she made the swim team. But finally Friday morning had come and she suddenly felt like she could wait another week to find out.

Cass and the goth kids were in their usual spot behind the school waiting for the bell to ring.

“Don't the tryout results come out today?” Pete asked Cass as he took a drag of his cigarette.

“Yeah,” she said with a slow nod.

“Aren't you excited? You've been talking about it non-stop this whole week.”

“I mean I was but what if I don't make the team? What if I only thought I did well when in reality I did awful? Maybe I'm the worst swimmer ever and should have never made it on any team ever?” Cass exclaimed running her hand through her hair.

“Hey, hey calm down. I'm sure you did great. You said you had been on the team back in Australia right?” Henrietta said trying to help Cass calm down.

“Yeah...”

“And you said you'd been swimming since you were a baby right?” Firkle asked.

“Well not that young but close-”

“So you have nothing to worry about,” Michael said putting his arm around her. “You're going to make the team. And if you don't then they are the ones worse off.”

Cass looked up at Michael and then at the other goth kids and smiled.

“Thanks guys. You know this is uncharacteristically optimistic for you all.”

“Yeah, well, call it demonic possession. That sounds more like us,” Henrietta said flipping her bangs out of her face. Cass gave a small chuckle and nodded.

The moment the bell rung Cass practically dragged her friends down to athletic office. She saw a small group of kids looking at the bulletin board and recognized most of them from the tryouts.

“Yes! I made it!” one of them cheered. It was Alexander.

“Shut up no one care if you made it. They only care that I made it,” a girl, who Cass could now see was Veronica, said.

As more and more kids saw whether they made it or not the group dispersed. Alexander passed Cass and gave her a small wave and a wink. She awkwardly smiled back and when she looked back to where the bulletin board was Veronica was glaring daggers at her.

“Didn't know you had to hire friends to follow you around? And the goth kids at that. I feel bad for them,” she said before walking past.

Cass shot a glare at her and went to say something but Michael stopped her.

“She's not worth it. Lets just see if you made the team,” he said.

Cass approached the board and it felt like she was walking in slow motion. She kept her eyes on the floor avoiding the team list. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then looked at the board.

 

_ South Park High School's Swim Team: _

_Veronica Mildrew_

_Alexander Markson_

_Red Michaelson_

_Nicole Daniels_

_Tweak Tweak_

_Clyde Donovan_

_Cassandra Palamino_

 

Below her name were a few names she didn't recognize but there was her name. She had made the team! She turned around to face her friends they were all looking at her with a look of question.

“I did it! I made the team!” she exclaimed jumping up and running over to her friends. She threw her arms around them. They all stiffened and looked around. When they saw there was no one around they gave a small hug back.

“Does this mean we have to come to your games?” Pete asked feigning disinterest. He couldn't openly admit that he wanted to go to a conformist sporting event.

“Not if you don't want to,” Cass said with a small laugh. “Thank you guys for helping calm my nerves this morning. Guess I really did worry for nothing didn't I?”

“Yeah you did,” Henrietta said.

“Come on, time to get out of here. I hate all the sports stuff down here. Not to mention the smell,” Pete said scrunching up his nose.

The group left the athletics area and made their way to their classes. When the other three had left it was just Michael and Cass left.

“I didn't like that one jock this morning,” Michael said as him and Cass made their way to AP Lit.

“Who Veronica? She is a bit of a bit-”

“No, the guy who winked at you.”

“Alexander? He's just a guy on the team. He doesn't seem too bad. Little overly friendly but not malicious or evil,” Cass said.

“He's flirting with you and I don't like it,” Michael said. To most he probably just looked bored but Cass could tell he was pretty angry at the guy.

“Hey look at me. I like you , a lot. And that guy could like me and flirt with me all he wants but I only want you. Okay?” Cass said now holding Michael's hands in front of everyone the hall.

Michael could feel everyone looking at them but at that moment he didn't care. He leaned down and captured her lips with his own. She was shocked at first but then leaned into the kiss with a smile.

“Come on, lets go to hell,” Michael said.

“You mean class?”

“Same thing.”

 


	22. Late Night Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long hiatus, its been really hard for me to write anything. Hopefully I will be able to write some more so there isn't as long as a break in the future.

 

It had been three weeks since Cass made the swim team. She spent every Tuesday and Thursday after school at the local pool with her team and went on Saturday mornings by herself. This week though was the week before their first meet. The practices were more about their times and pushing themselves, though not too much before the meet.

“So first meet of the season, are you nervous?” Red asked as her and Cass were getting changed into their uniforms. The uniform was a simple one, a black one piece with some green details on the sides. In the top right was an outline of a small cow in green.

“A little, I mean I'm sure it will go well, no one will drown hopefully.”

“Do you have anyone coming to see you compete?”

“Yeah, my dads, my mum, and my idiot brother. What about you?” Cass asked.

“Wendy and Bebe are coming. Clyde is going out of town with his family, he felt really bad about missing it,” Red answered.

“It's nice that he wants to be there though, even though he can't.”

“Yeah, what about your boyfriend? Is he coming?”

“I'm not too sure, I didn't ask him to. Plus it's not really his thing, it's too-”

“-conformist” Red finished for her. “I know. Maybe he'll show up though, he seems to love you a lot.”

Cass nearly choked hearing the word love come out of Red's mouth. When she had finished her coughing fit she just stared at Red.

“Love? You think Michael loves me?” she asked.

“I don't know, sure seems like it. He did take you to homecoming after all. Not to mention the way he looks at any guy who tries to get too friendly with you. Plus the way he looks at you says it all.”

Cass was about to ask Red what she meant but their coach told them to get out to the pool. Cass tried her hardest to forget what Red said during practice and she did to a degree. While she was swimming she was fine but during breaks that's all she could think about.

That night when she was getting ready for bed she got a text from Michael.

' _Are you okay?'_ he asked

_'yeah, fine why?'_

_'haven't heard from you since school, that's unusual for you.'_

She hadn't realized it until now but he was right. She hadn't texted him like she usually did. Normally she would have texted him right after practice and possibly spent the evening with him. But today she was too busy thinking about what Red said.

_'sorry practice really tired me out, didn't mean to worry you. I heading to bed but I'll see you and the gang tomorrow morning. Goodnight! <3'_

Michael texted back a simple goodnight. Cass plugged her phone and tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Did Michael love her or was Red just crazy? What if he didn't and Cass was just getting her hopes up? Most importantly did Cass love Michael?

She laid awake in bed before deciding to head into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She pulled one of her blankets around her shoulders and crept downstairs careful not to wake any of her family. The kitchen light was on and she figured someone forgot to turn it off. She didn't expect to see her dad, William, sitting at the kitchen table drinking some coffee.

“Cass, what are you doing up this late? Don't you have school tomorrow?” he asked.

“I can't sleep.”

“Something on your mind?” Cass nodded and her dad pulled out the chair next to his.

“So tell me what's wrong.”

“You know how Michael and I have been dating for a while right? Well today at swim practice Red said something and its just been the only thing I can think of. Its not even a bad thing...At least I think so.”

“Can I ask what she said or is that confidential?”

“She said that she thinks Michael loves me!” Cass exclaimed.

“And why would that be a bad thing?”

“Because what if I don't love him? What if it isn't true? There's just too many possibilities pop.”

“Do you love him?”

“I don't know, I mean I think so... How did you know that you loved Dad?” she asked.

“Well it just sort of came to me. We had been dating for about six months at this point and I got really sick on the night of our anniversary dinner. I felt really bad and canceled. I laid on my crappy apartment couch feeling sick and awful about canceling. I was almost asleep when I heard a knock on the door. I dragged myself over and guess who was at the door.”

“Dad?”

“That's right. He had brought over some of our favourite movies, cold medicine, water, and snacks. He said there was no way we weren't spending our anniversary together. I told him I was sick and he said 'let me take care of you then'. I knew right then that I loved him,” William said with a smile.

“Because he cared for you when you were sick?” Cass asked confused.

“No, because I realized I was willing to do the same for him. Because even after six months seeing him at my door still made me heart flutter. And mainly because I just knew that I wanted him in my life forever.”

“But that doesn't help me figure out if I love-”

“I think you know if you love him, you're just scared if he feels the same way. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to figure it out, you'll know when you need to. Now why don't we watch some movies on the couch until you fall asleep?”

“Don't you have work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but my daughter is more important than that. Plus all I have to do tomorrow is send a few documents and I can do that from home,” he said with a smile.

Cass and her father pulled a bunch of blankets from the linen closet, picked out some movies, and set themselves up on the couch. Cass snuggled into the blankets and hit play on the remote.

“Hey pop?”

“Yes Cassie?”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime kiddo. That's what I'm here for.”

 


End file.
